"If you don't get paid at Jefferies, you only have yourself to blame"

It's not just RBC that announces bonuses before Christmas. Jefferies does too. Last week was the week, and inevitably there are some complaints. 

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"We've hired too many people," says one senior individual at Jefferies in London, speaking off the record. "It means that productivity has fallen, and so have bonuses."

Unlike many banks, Jefferies operates a formulaic rather than a discretionary bonus model. People there are typically paid a percentage of the fees or the P&L that they generate. "If you don't get paid at Jefferies, you only have yourself to blame," goes the mantra of headhunters. 

Following years of big hiring, though, the suggestion is that some teams at Jefferies are now overstaffed and that the extra mouths to feed are taking their toll on pay. The firm's results for the first three quarters - shown in the chart below, don't entirely substantiate this: nine month productivity in 2024 at Jefferies was up 34% on last year. But this might still appear disappointing in the context of 2021 and 2022. 

One VP in Jefferies' London investment banking team said he's happy with his pay, which was in line with his "ambitious expectations."

Jefferies declined to comment.

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